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God Forgives, I Don’t

On Dec. 13, Rick Ross was supposed to release his fifth studio album, God Forgives, I Don’t, to the masses until he suffered two seizures in October. Since then, his album has been pushed back to the top of 2012.

People, who had heard tracks that may appear on the album like DJ Khaled and Drake, have declared that the album will be a classic and will be a major part of hip-hop history. Ever since, Ross came out with his first album, Port of Miami, in 2006, he has improved his lyricism, beat selection and songwriting skills. The Boss has always had a knack of writing huge anthems but he has improved on letting listeners into his life on records. His best album so far in his career was last year’s blockbuster smash, Teflon Don. He had huge records on the album like “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast),” with Styles P and “Aston Martin Music,” with Chrisette Michele and Drake. The biggest knock from critics on the album was that he had too many features. Out of the 11 tracks on the record, only one was a solo song. The biggest positive was the production from the likes of Kanye West, No I.D., J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Lex Luger.
For God Forgives, I Don’t to be the masterpiece that some believe it can be certain things need to happen for the record to stand out.

• Make it a double album
The double album is one of the most difficult things to accomplish in hip-hop. Many have tried but only three have lived up to expectations. 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death and Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Ross could make the first disc of the album God Forgives and it could be his personal and most focused songs. The second disc would be titled I’ Don’t, which would feature his club bangers and harder records. If he could pull it off, he would be remembered as a legend forever.

• Less features
The Miami based rapper has already confirmed that Jay-Z would be on the album. This is not a surprised since, Jay-Z has appeared on three of Ross’ albums prior to this. Ross always likes to have singers on his album to do certain hooks so you can expect to see some featured. When it comes to other rappers, this time around he should keep the number low. The only artists from his label, Maybach Music Group, that should appear on the album is Meek Mill and Wale. Other than that, only three other rappers should appear. As Ross is growing as a figure in the game, it is important for him to stand out with the current crop of artists instead of fitting in.

• More beats from legendary producers
In the summer, Ross would make video blogs to show who he is working with in the studio. The two producers that it should him with were The Alchemist and DJ Toomp. The beats that they placed for Ross were nothing short of spectacular and The Boss seemed to be in a zone when he heard the records. The second single off the album with Just Blaze, “I Love My Bitches,” was a great introduction about how hopefully the production to sound. In a conference call in October, he explained that he was the production style of the album to be from the 1990s. With this shift in sound, Ross could change what type of beats artists want to rap to similar to what Jay-Z had with The Blueprint.

In an interview with XXL Magazine in September, Ross said “I’m enjoying my last few moments at No. 2. It’s like I’m watching the No. 1 man on stage, my legs crossed, I’m smoking big, hollering at the bitches in the crowd. And this album gonna do it. I got the formula.”

If he’s right about that then next year will be his time to become the top artist in the game.